Genetic modification of the human germ line: The reasons why this project has no future | Zendy

Michel Morange | Zendy

AI Assistant Blog Pricing

Home ZAIA Blog

Open Access

Genetic modification of the human germ line: The reasons why this project has no future

Author(s) -

Michel Morange

Publication year - 2015

Publication title -

comptes rendus biologies

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.529

H-Index - 84

eISSN - 1768-3238

pISSN - 1631-0691

DOI - 10.1016/j.crvi.2015.07.005

Subject(s) - eugenics , germline , germ , line (geometry) , environmental ethics , biology , political science , genetics , philosophy , mathematics , geometry , gene , microbiology and biotechnology

Modification of the human germ line has remained a distant but valuable objective for most biologists since the emergence of genetics (and even before). To study the historical transformations of this project, I have selected three periods - the 1930s, at the pinnacle of eugenics, around 1974 when molecular biology triumphed, and today - and have adopted three criteria to estimate the feasibility of this project: the state of scientific knowledge, the existence of suitable tools, and societal demands. Although the long-awaited techniques to modify the germ line are now available, I will show that most of the expectations behind this project have disappeared, or are considered as being reachable by highly different strategies.

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research